Comments by "Mikko Rantalainen" (@MikkoRantalainen) on "" video.

  1. Yep, customers would need to go along lines of "I pay for up to 4 hours of diagnostics, then you say what needs to be fixed. If I agree to apply the recommended fix and it doesn't fix the problem, I'll pay *nothing*. If you cannot find the fault in 4 hours but provide me a report of what you've checked *and verified working*, I will pay for the 4 hours of diagnosing the problem and look for another shop." As long as customers are happy to take "I guess it could be ECM... it costs quite a bit but replacing it might fix the issue. Are you okay we try that and you pay for the parts and labor in any case?" things are not going to get any better.
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  2. Here's a good article about flat rate and diagnostics: https://www.aaa.com/autorepair/articles/auto-repair-labor-rates-explained The bottom line is that flat rate should not be used for diagnostics. However, that article fails to say what should be done if the root cause is not found after N hours of diagnostics. What kind of report should the customer get and how to proceed then? For me, if I pay 4 hours of diagnostics and the root cause is not found, I definitely want full report about what was checked and found working so that it doesn't need to be checked again by another shop. Flat rate is okay for clear tasks such as replacing the battery, replacing starter motor or replacing timing chain.
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  3. Imagine if "right to repair" were a reality and you could actually fix/replace the software on ECM... Current situation is like "my printer doesn't seem to be working, I guess I have to buy a new computer and try again"! For those having touble following this logic, ECM is technically a lower power computer packaged in aluminium box, running manufacturer tweaked software. And different ECM part numbers actually refer to software running on said computer.
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